Tuesday, 5 July 2011

Summer Time - Island Time. The best of both worlds.

Summer time....and the living is easy! It's such an easy time of year to get distracted. Take a day like today.....Mother Nature has finally nudged the temperatures up into that range that makes you want to shed the layers of clothing that we normally believe are, well, necessary. For the hotel, that means that the conversations at the desk change. We hear about that first spine-tingling whale sighting; the first view from Cape Spear; the first hike along the East Coast Trail; the first taste of lobster.

Where do these visitors come from? We have a tracking system set up on our website that tells us where our guests are viewing us from and I'm wondering how the people from Russia and India and Romania and the Bahamas hear about us? Little old us.....tucked away in a spot on the harbour in downtown St. John's, Newfoundland. It boggles the mind really.

And then, they're here. They come through the doors, loaded down with luggage and filled with excitement. Some come prepared.....they have the maps and they have a plan. Some wing it - which can either go really, really well and be a lot of fun or can present a challenge. It's hard to imagine those nights when there's not a room to be had in the city but they happen - a lot. I remember a night when I struggled to find a place for the nicest couple - I felt so bad when I finally had to tell them that the only thing I could find was a two hour drive away. A room and a bed.....but a long, long way away. Yet, off they went, happy to have a place and filled with "tourist" enthusiasm. Even as I type this, I can hear David in the background on the phone with a guest, "I have Sunday night and Monday night but I don't have Tuesday.....I have Wednesday though." Typical, so typical.

Don't imagine that everyone comes from off the island. Our very own tourists can be just as much fun. We don't get to explore our own backyards often enough and I can't imagine ever having seen it all. I'm sure I'm not alone.

So, bring on summer I say - the best of both worlds. Where we get to be Tour Guides and Tourists......all at the same time.